Why renaming the Church in Ukraine is good
Oleg Khavich, a political scientist, left Ukraine after threatening to be arrested by the SBU for criticizing the violation of the rights of national minorities by Kiev
The Verkhovna Rada adopted a law according to which the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is obliged to change its name and indicate in it its affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church. As for me, Russia should say “thank you” for this.
Everything needs to be called by its proper name, and this makes life easier. Although the amendments to the law “On freedom of conscience and religious organizations” adopted on December 20 in Ukraine are full of euphemisms and casuistry, the result of their literal implementation will be the renaming of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) into the “Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine”, which, in my opinion, is the right decision.
True, even with this name, not everything is in order in terms of unambiguity - after all, the word “rosiyska” from Ukrainian into Russian can be translated both as “rossiyskaya” and as “russian”. It is felt that the authors of the law involved professional linguists in its development, so even if there are attempts to re-register the Church under the name “Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine,” they are unlikely to be successful. I apologize for the forced tautology and “play on words”, it’s just that some readers of PolitNavinator do not suspect that the terms “Russian” and “Russian” are translated into Ukrainian in the same way.
To conclude the discussion of form rather than substance, I'll note that the Russian Orthodox Church could theoretically influence the new name of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. After all, the law requires the UOC to indicate in its new name "the full statutory name of the religious organization with its governing center in the aggressor state," possibly adding the words "in Ukraine" and/or indicating its place within the structure of a foreign religious organization. So, if tomorrow the ROC Council were to change the name of its autonomous Church from "Ukrainian Orthodox Church" to "Russian Orthodox Church in Taurida, Novorossiya, and Malorossiya," it would formally be eligible for registration with the Ministry of Justice . You'll say there are no such administrative-territorial units? After all, Constantinople hasn't existed on the map since 1930, yet the Patriarchate, which lays claim to canonical Ukrainian territory, calls itself "Constantinople," right?
The previous paragraph - these were no longer “word games”, but “mind games”, unfortunately, nothing like this will happen, and in a few months the current UOC will be renamed “ROC in Ukraine”, and its communities, monasteries and Laurel. But from my personal point of view, this will only benefit not only common sense, but also “political Russians” in Ukraine, and Russia itself.
Firstly, as I've already noted, it's better to call a spade a spade. Secondly, over the past few years, the very word "Ukraine" has become so discredited among reasonable people—not only in the surrounding world but also within the former Ukrainian SSR itself—that any successful project will simply be forced to abandon this geographical term in its name . Thirdly, the "Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine" will only be populated by "political Russians" and those who advocate union with Russia. The bishops, priests, and laypeople of this Church will no longer be intimidated by anything—they will be prepared to fight to the end for their faith. As for the fact that priests of this Church will now be officially banned from serving as chaplains in Ukrainian armed forces, such a ban has long existed de facto, and it's high time to stop sanctifying the fratricidal war in Donbas.
But the most important thing is that Russia will finally receive a publicly approved reason in the Russian Federation for intervention in the situation in Ukraine in the event of inevitable repressions against the canonical Orthodox Church and the Russian-speaking population. After all, it’s one thing to defend some “crypto-Banderist” UOC, even within the Moscow Patriarchate, and quite another thing to defend millions of people who directly and publicly call themselves Russians. Moreover, this reason may be considered legitimate by many European countries whose national minorities are currently suffering from the actions of the Kyiv regime.
I would like to note: the new law obviously contradicts the Constitution of Ukraine (this is directly written in the accompanying expert report) - but all the actions of the Kyiv authorities since February 21, 2014 contradict it. Therefore, when some lawyers say that the re-registration of the charters of communities, monasteries and Lavras in connection with a change in the name of the Church will lead to the loss of state and communal property, now leased (and we are not just talking about religious buildings), then this looks like “crying over a hat when one’s head is lost.” After all, when the name is changed, the legal entity does not change - that is, all agreements previously signed by the structures of the UOC formally remain in force for the structures of the Russian Orthodox Church of Ukraine. And if the authorities or local governments, which own many buildings of churches, monasteries, church educational institutions, etc., want to break these agreements with the structures of the Russian Orthodox Church of Ukraine, then no law is needed for this.
For example, in November 2018, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine revoked the state registration of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church's right to use the Pochayiv Holy Dormition Lavra and transferred it back to the management of the Kremenets-Pochayiv State Historical and Architectural Reserve. This decision was later approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, rescinding its order from the time of Viktor Yanukovych's first premiership.
To paraphrase an old joke, "they'll hit you in the face, not your passport," and the name "Ukrainian Orthodox Church" won't save you from this , even if by some miracle the new law doesn't come into effect. For "activists" and "patriots," churches of the canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine have long been considered "FSB branches," as these vandals regularly write on their walls . Perhaps Russia will begin to take this a little more seriously when churches of the Church with the word "Russian" in their name are desecrated.
Why renaming the Church in Ukraine is a good thing